We are a worldwide social network of freethinkers, atheists, agnostics and secular humanists.
I have been a quote collector and quote monger for at least as long as I have been an atheist, and likely much longer. There is a fascination in me of those who are sufficiently skilled in language that they structure words into concepts and ideas and proposed actions which grab my attention and interest, whether it is John F. Kennedy's unabashed statement: "We choose to go to the moon and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard," Robert A. Heinlein's blunt expression: "If you've got the truth, you can demonstrate it. Talking doesn't prove it. SHOW people," or Captain Kirk's subtle yet important tactical observation, having encountered and been challenged by the dauntingly huge First Federation vessel: "Not chess, Mr. Spock ... Poker!"
Certainly, atheism has had its share of skilled spokespeople, whose words have inspired and driven us, whether it was Madalyn Murray O'Hair, saying: "An Atheist believes that a hospital should be built instead of a church," or Sam Harris, who noted that: "The only problem with Islamic fundamentalism are the fundamentals of Islam," or Aron Ra's far more succinct: "If you can't SHOW it, you don't KNOW it."
Consciously or unconsciously, I suspect all of us have learned and grown from such words and many others, becoming stronger and more mature, not just in our atheism but in ourselves, having heard such words as these, and that is the point of this group: not to just deal in quotes which praise and promote atheism but which advance the cause of knowledge, self-understanding and self-ownership. Each of us have likely heard someone say something and think, "Wow!" and resonated to the significance of what they heard.
That's what I want to do here: share, learn, and grow, not just from THEIR words, but our own.
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One suggestion for the main comment area of the group: Please keep your quotes to under 20 lines or 200 words. That way, one entry won't dominate a given page of the comment area. If you have a longer quote or speech which you think is significant, create a separate post in the group.
Please enjoy!
Started by Grinning Cat. Last reply by Onyango M Jan 29. 5 Replies 1 Like
[Reposting Alan Perlman's suggested speech for Pope Benedict's retirement, which he posted at the now-defunct site Atheist Nexus ten years ago.Archive copy at the Wayback Machine: …Continue
Tags: Atheist Nexus, repost, Alan Perlman, fantasy speech, Roman Catholic Church
Started by Grinning Cat. Last reply by Grinning Cat Jan 27. 21 Replies 3 Likes
This one, with its context, is too long for the group comments, but in my opinion the context deserves to be more widely known. You'll probably enjoy it, whether or not you're a writer."Now,…Continue
Tags: Shitty First Drafts, Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott, writing
Started by Loren Miller Jan 26. 0 Replies 2 Likes
I mentioned in the Quote Of The Day comment section a few days ago that…Continue
Tags: logical fallicy, arguments, fact, faith, circumcision
Started by Loren Miller Nov 4, 2022. 0 Replies 0 Likes
The following is commentary, made by Atheist Universe member Doug Hanlon, regarding the Supreme Court of the United States, I presume in response to some of the previous quote postings which…Continue
Nice Comment
I know many in the US would disagree with me but I see both male and female circumcision as abuse. If god had wanted the foreskin and clitoris to be mutilated why did he put them there in the first place?
Question= when and why did it become the norm to circumcise most boys in the US and didn't in Europe?
Of course it's mutilation, just like the surgery done to intersex children.
How strange that excision – female circumcision, with several languages using the same term for both kinds of mutilation – of little girls should revolt the westerner but excite no disapproval when it is performed on little boys. Consensus on the point seems absolute. But ask your interlocutor to think about the validity of this surgical procedure, which consists of removing a healthy part of a nonconsenting child’s body on nonmedical grounds – the legal definition of… mutilation.
-- Michel Onfray, Atheist Manifesto: The Case Against Christianity, Judaism, and Islam
A long time ago on Atheist Nexus, there was a considerable (and somewhat heated) discussion about male circumcision and whether or not it was a necessary process. Personally, I too, hold with Onfray's position: that circumcision is MUTILATION, a completely unnecessary procedure and an insult to the integrity of a child who typically isn't empowered to consent to it. That continues to be my opinion to this day.
Loren that is an excellent analogy!
You’re choking. I have two choices: I do the Heimlich maneuver or I pray for you. Which do you want me to do?
-– Lawrence Krauss
This simple question puts the whole "efficacy of prayer" thing in about as blunt a perspective as I have ever seen. I mean, if you can pray to cure someone of cancer, you can pray for someone whose windpipe just got blocked with a bit of hotdog. It also boils down the whole business to what works and what doesn't!
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich" . If that was true I'd be bumping off my wealthy neighbours left right and centre
Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich.
-- Napoleon Bonaparte
And so far, it's worked, though I wonder at how well it will continue to do so, moving forward!
By any metric Atheists are just as moral as the religious and of course do so without the expectation of reward
I want to know why believers can't deal with the idea of morality base on a simple concept: WELL-BEING!!!
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